After two or three hours at the Southern Kentucky Fair, Vince Rainwater and his children had their fill of rides, bore an armload of prizes from midway games, and were slurping the last out of big orange soft-drink cups.

Chase Rainwater, 12, said his dad hunted him all around the bumper car enclosure.

“And I found him,” Vince Rainwater said.

“Every time,” Chase conceded.

Dani Rainwater, 10, preferred several other rides, all of which spun rapidly. She carried a blue dolphin she’d won for her baby sister, while both Dani and Chase took home mirrored pictures from the prize booths. Chase bore an inflatable baseball bat he’d won at the fast-pitch booth.

Coming in, they and hundreds of others passed through the Jaycee Pavilion at Lampkin Park, in which electioneering politicians mixed with candles, chiropractors and 4-H exhibits.

Dick Cooper, member of the Warren County 4-H council, said the 4-H projects again take up half as much room as they did last year. The organization has widened its focus from traditional agriculture and home economics to include fields such as science, he said.

“It should broaden the scope a whole lot,” Cooper said.

That change is shown in this year’s winners. Alongside standard projects like sewing and gardening are science-related items such as insect collections. The winners of blue and purple ribbons will go on to the state competition, Cooper said.

Gates at the fair open at 6 p.m. through Saturday, with animal shows, karaoke and dancing, and track events including demolition derbies still to come. Past the pavilion, the Richardsville Volunteer Fire Department Safety House is on display again. It heads a long row of food and drink trailers leading down to the track and bleachers, where a crowd gathered early in anticipation of the compact car figure-8 races.

SOKY Fair board member Kelly Wiseman said the first night or two are always a little slow, but one good sign is that participation and attendance were up at this year’s beauty pageant on Sunday.

Tonight’s admission is $8, with additional family features such as a “Kid Zone” of inflatable attractions, she said.

Starting Wednesday, admission goes to $10, but organizers expect larger crowds then for bigger track events, Wiseman said. In the last few years, the fair has attracted 18,000 to 21,000 visitors overall, she said.

“The weather dictates some of that,” Wiseman said. This year’s forecast is “typical,” with a chance of rain each night of the week, she said.

If the weather stays clear, however, the fair should draw 5,000 or 6,000 on each of its last few nights, Wiseman said.

The Rainwaters may be among them; Vince Rainwater said that Monday was their first visit to the fair in four years, but they might be back for big track events later in the week. Chase wanted to stay late that night, to see the figure-8 race, and his father was agreeable.

“We’ll stay ’til they close,” Vince Rainwater said.

— The fair continues today with the lamb and goat show, motocross racing and mechanical bull riding contest.